The Modernized Annuity Working Group (MAWG)

has been working since June 2019 to explore whether there is a historical and legal foundation to modernizing Treaty annuities, and if so, how to go about implementing the idea. This involves research, education and engagement.

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RESEARCH

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   Three of our team—Gregory Mason, Sheilla Jones and Wayne Helgason—have co-authored an overview that explores the rationale, design, implementation, and cost of a modern Treaty annuity, which would acknowledge the value to Canada of the land ceded by the Indigenous Peoples and serves as a concrete measure for reconciliation.

 

A Modern Annuity for Canada—Concrete Reconciliation

Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development

Volume 12, Issue 1, Fall 2020, pages 92-110

(Released April 2021)

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Read the full paper here.

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EDUCATION

first facts

  There's lots to learn and understand about modernized annuities, but that's exactly why MAWG's work is so important. And we're providing easy-to-access information in one-page first facts pdfs so that you can learn along with us.

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Let the People Speak: Oppression in a Time of Reconciliation

By Sheilla Jones

Foreword by Sheila North

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   We—Settlers and First People—can take concrete steps towards reconciliation when we arrive at a shared understanding of how our relationship got to where it is today. Let the People Speak looks at the oppressive power dynamics of Indigenous politics that have grown dramatically over the past 50 years as funding for Indian Affairs/Indigenous Affairs rose from $105-million in 1966 to more than $21-billion in 2019. Yet, despite the resources allocated to the two IA departments and the 32 federal departments and agencies that co-deliver Indigenous programs and services, too many FN communities and individuals continue to face grinding poverty and despair. Jones argues that ordinary Indigenous people remain uniquely powerless and voiceless when it comes to influencing the federal policies governing their lives, from birth to death. And she makes the point that Settlers have also been silenced on Indigenous policy executed in their names. Both First People and Settlers need to make their voices heard for their to be meaningful change that leads to reconciliation.